"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Okay then--so this would be the official pitstop then? Is that why everybody looks so happy?

If so--we know a few teams that go on! Funny though--they haven't been showing us ESM scenes for awhile!

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

But they arrive on the morning of the 9th I thought? Usually flights get in in the AM...need to check the flight data though...

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

But they arrive on the morning of the 9th I thought? Usually flights get in in the AM...need to check the flight data though...

Yes, Peach if they originate in the East or Midwest. However, this one originated in LAX. The arrivals into SNN are all after noon. Check the relevant threads, Speculation timelines and maybe above in Ep.1 for the specifics.

Thanks--will do...Wonder how long to get thru customs, get to Galway, take the ferry, then get to the site? Maybe at least 3 hours or so? More?

Still--with late daylight till 10 or so they could do a lot I guess!

On the other hand--WHAT are those damned FISH doing back?? No! NO! NOT the fish!

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

If it is scheduled for more than one hour, 90 minutes or 2 hours, either Cold Case or Shark would have to be bumped. With the NFL tussle between Manning and Brady probably going late, 60 Minutes probably wont start until 7:30PM. A 90 minute ep would certainly bump one of the other shows.

I don't think that they would be able to include everything which we have on our plates if the show only runs 60 minutes.

I checked my tapes: the openings of the first 11 TARs which includes intros of teams and race to the airport up to the time the first planes take off runs from a minimum of 16 minutes (TAR1) to a max of 31 minutes (TAR5). The average time for this stuff is about 20 minutes.

Which means ep one of TAR12 just about has to be at least 90 minutes. If it is scheduled for only 60 minutes, then it looks almost certain that it has to be a TBC on the 4th.

Not too good. Only 60 minutes. Unless Cold Case and Shark get bumped back to 10PM start. Doubt that, so if both Cold Case and Shark are on the schedule, that only leaves one hour for TAR12 Premiere!!! TBC looks more and more likely to me.

The actual location for the welcome mat if it is on the Aran Island of Inishmore miight be the Stone Fort of Dun Aonghasa on a dramatic cliff edge and dates back some 2500 years and one of the most important, ancient sites in Ireland

I have found one, and only one, possible location for the bikes-on-a-wire task. But if we had better satellite coverage I would be more sure. I found one blog that said GE does not have high rez images here because someone found a para-military training camp in on one of the islands!

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Judging from the changes in Jennifer's wardrobe the squence on Aran (or elsewhere in Ireland) looks to be:

1. Bike for Two Ride - Jennifer is wearing a white windbreaker over green sweat

2. High Wire Bike Gig - Jennifer is wearing a green sweat with the white windbreaker tied around her waist

3. Donkey Kong - Jennifer is wearing a yellow tee with both the green sweat and white windbreaker tied around her waist. This is also the wardrobe when she is wiping her tears on Nathan's sleeve. (Pit stop?)

It also looks as if TK and Rachel are ahead of Nathan and Jennifer since they are moving off with the donkey as N and J are reading the clue in the BG

That must be the Aran Island of Inishmore. That makes the ancient stone castle of Dun Aengus or Dun Aonghasa a pretty good choice for the first elimination mat to be located. TPTB love to have the mat located in some spot with local color or importance and the castle of Dun Aengus is one of the most important ancient structure in all of Ireland.

So the scenario is now looking like:

1. Teams arrive by vintage ragtops at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood keeping HH and his girl friends abey.

2. Drive to LAX and catch either the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin or British Air to London. Then taking connecting flight to Shannon.

3.. Taxicabs to departure point in Gallway for Aran Direct Ferry ride to Aran Island of Inishmore (2 hours)

4. Suspect teams arrive late in the day and bed down in some B&B over night.

5. Perform tasks:

A. Ride bike for two from to site for the High Wire bike event (Roadblock?)

B. High Wire across the inlet

C. Hitch up baskets on a donkey, load with peat, and drive the donkey a set distance.

6. Proceed to the ancient stone castle of Dun Aengus, site of the first mat and first Philimination.

GMAN, the sequence looks good, but if teams are going to fly out of Ireland the monring of July 10, they must do all their tasks on the day of arrival. With the long day that time of the year in Ireland, it could have been accomplished.

That must be the Aran Island of Inishmore. That makes the ancient stone castle of Dun Aengus or Dun Aonghasa a pretty good choice for the first elimination mat to be located. TPTB love to have the mat located in some spot with local color or importance and the castle of Dun Aengus is one of the most important ancient structure in all of Ireland.

So the scenario is now looking like:

1. Teams arrive by vintage ragtops at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood keeping HH and his girl friends abey.

2. Drive to LAX and catch either the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin or British Air to London. Then taking connecting flight to Shannon.

3.. Taxicabs to departure point in Gallway for Aran Direct Ferry ride to Aran Island of Inishmore (2 hours)

4. Suspect teams arrive late in the day and bed down in some B&B over night.

5. Perform tasks:

A. Ride bike for two from to site for the High Wire bike event (Roadblock?)

B. High Wire across the inlet

C. Hitch up baskets on a donkey, load with peat, and drive the donkey a set distance.

6. Proceed to the ancient stone castle of Dun Aengus, site of the first mat and first Philimination.

OK, its pretty thin, but its a start.

The stone castle of Dun Aengus or Dun Aonghasa isn't really a castle as we know them along the Rhine, but merely a series of areas set off by rough field stone walls; (afterall the place is over 2000 years old) the whole area covers about 40 acres. From the view of the teams arriving at the mat, it seems to be on an area higher than the surrounding countryside. Also if they are on the Isle of Aran (Inishmore) this would be a logical place to have the mat since TPTB like to locate the mat on a spot with local or historical significance.

As you all may recall, TPTB always hold back at least one task from the advance promos. So it may be that the teams first have to complete some task or find some location in Dublin, Shannon, Galway etc. before heading out to the ferry house for the ride to Inishmore (2 hours). Since the tems won't be arriving until early afternoon, thiis adds to the time line.

When the teams arrive in Inishmore it seems to be raining quite hard, Ronald and Christina are seen coming off the boat with their backpacks and wearing rain gear. Later we have a shot of Nathan and Jennifer wearing different outfits than we see them in later (Jennifer has a red bandana on, later it is green - or are the editors doing some digital color changing on us?) They also have their backpacks on. Not only is it raining, but the light level seems low or later in the afternoon or early evening.

Then we have shots of at least two teams or perhaps three in a country inn or B&B. Now if the producers follow tradition for the first ep there is always an overnight wait (tents on the ice in Iceland, for example). So when they arrive at the Inn, they may receive numbers for departure on the next morning. (Perhaps a pony cart ride to the place to pick up the bikes built for two)

During all three tasks that we see, Nathan and Jennifer are now dressed completely differently. It is bright and sunny with the sun seemingly coming in the direction of early morning (any help here Chateau?) and moreover none of the teams have their backpacks. They must have been left somewhere safe, in the Inn perhaps? The angle of the sun shown by Chateau on the map of Inishmore seems to be coming from the south or south, south east seems to indicate late morning and not late afternoon which it would have to be if this is a one day event.

I know that we have a "firm" sighting of the teams in Amsterdam on the 10th, but things do not add up for everything to be able to be accomplished on the 9th.

If we get word that the ep one will be eiher 90 or 120 minutes (as tradition calls for) then this gives more credence for an overnight wait before the three tasks we have seen are performed.

Gman, I have recanted that determination of July 10th. Here is what they wrote (Puddin's find)

Quote

Today we took a quick train ride to nearby Haarlem. Quick side story: Hazen borrowed a book from a hostel in Switzerland for something to read on our hikes. It was an excellent book called the "Hiding Place" written by Corrie Ten Boom. The Ten Boom family was a Christian family in Haarlem that helped countless people escape Nazi persicution. Corrie was the head of the Dutch underground and promoted passive tactics. They were eventually betrayed and sent to concentration camps where her father and sister were murdered. Side story Over. When we found out we would be in Amsterdam we decided to visit her house. We were able to enter and it is much like it was during Nazi Occupation. It is now run by a non-profit devout Christian organization. All in all it was an inspirational visit.We just got done with a walking tour of Amsterdam. Unfortunately it was not as good as the Berlin tour but it was still very interesting. We think we saw some participants from the Amazing Race running through town with a cameraman and sound guy following close behind.

And they posted it on the 11th. Which I had dismissed since they don't have any material in their blog that points to a day between seeing the Tour de France on the 9th and their "Today".